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05 Oli Goldsmith I www.backyardcircus.com

12 Trager&Trager I traeger.u.traeger@t-online.de

14 Paul Drohan I www.studiovoodoo.com

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Michelle Wirtz I www.digitalpionoese.de
Ross Holden I www.neasdencontrolcentre.com
Helge Barske I www.barske.com
Stefan Claudius I www.phantompower.de
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Text: Nannette Romer I nannette_roemer@web.de
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Frank Werner I www.fw27.com
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40 " Hel^e Barske I www.barske.corrT

42 ' ' -Manfred Klein I www.manfredklein.de
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47 Paul Drohan I www.studiovoodoo.com

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These are bold days for such a genre, since change is the very fabric of our time. If today's

modern ..priesthood" consists of scientists, we SF authors are like those wild-eyed folk in hair shirts

who once stood outside the temple gates, performing tricks and dazzling the crowds,

. t x t by U a v i d~B 1 Pn »—■— - ___^--- — m

www.kithrup.com/brin —

I earn my living as a writer. In other words, as a magician, shaman, metapho-
rist. By chant and incantation — and with the active collaboration of my clients, the rea¬
ders — I create images, characters, alternate realities in other minds. It is an ancient,
venerable profession. All tribes have had storytellers, who wove legends round the campfi¬
re. My specialty involves epics not about long ago, but times and places yet to come. It attempts
to weave realistic might-bes, and vivid might-have-beens. Above all. it is the literature of chan¬
ge.

PART

generally tolerated by the official guardians of wisdom, for astute
priests understand that people need myths, as well.

In fact, the best of todays scientists seem to enjoy reading
far-out, speculative tales. Perhaps they, too, like to be taken far
away now and then, exploring possibilities that require no proof,
only plausibility. Having worked on both sides, both inside the
Temple and out, I can say that, for all their differences, science
and science fiction have something deep in common. You might
call it a shared frame of reference... a new and different way of
looking at the world.

picture, imperfect as it is, lets you see the world a little clearer than before.

I alluded to this worldview in earlier essays. Now I want to

look one more time at the Dogma of Otherness. This is the second half of the declaration, the manifesto, of a new revolution... one that

began to take hold only a couple of centuries ago and is still tentative, uncertain, incomple-
Consider the following statement: te, yet has already achieved incredible wonders. To the problem of imperfect knowledge, it

suggests a new and unprecedented solution... honest work.

Subjective reality is what I see and experience; objective rea¬
lity is what's really out there. They aren't necessarily the same To ever come close to what‘s really going on, I must learn to double check, to experi-
thing. ment, and even consult and cooperate with other people. Mutual deliberation, or giving of

„reality checks," helps us agree on common ground, and criticism is the only anodyne human
In other words, I look through my eyes and see only a ver- beings have ever discovered to error,
sion of the world, a version that can be, and often is, colored or

tyujsted by what I want To see. Another person may witness the It takes great wisdom, maturity, and force of will to overcome ingrained human ego-
le events, arfi yet| observe something entirely different. tism and say - „Hey, I can fool myself! I might even be wrong, from time to time."

Fitfully, hesitantly, we have begun preaching this lesson to our youth —
especially those entering science — yet it is a hard standard to live up to. To a
surprising degree, the new priesthood manages to work by this new code, but
the siren call of egotism and self-righteousness can never be escaped. It reso¬
nates within our cro-magnon skulls, ever beckoning us back toward the nar¬
cissistic joys of magic.

Today one hears creationists — those preaching a literal interpretation of
the Book of Genesis — attacking so-called secular humanism by calling it „just
another religion." Meanwhile they promulgate what they call ..Creation Science."
The irony of this implied compliment — that science is more trustworthy than
older ways of knowing — seems to escape notice by both sides in the public
debate.

The same people proclaim that ..evolution is just a theory." And, of course,
we know that all theories are equal, yes?

sed,

This is t

l us hi

illusfc

i othi

)f two ideas on which I believe Otherness is But it has taken an even more remarkable revolution for people to be able to add --
)de m reader it probably sounds pretty obvious... Instead of retreating into ourselves, let's try taking the problem apart into little pieces, see
isn't noticed the effect of subjectivity in daily life? where I‘m wrong, where you're wrong, and where we both may wind up being surprised."
ire prone to. and those (if we are honest vim a A ap% ■ #

PART TWO: RUT/ ROD BOLT/

Cultural Relativism, a myth springing from the opposite end of the politi¬
cal spectrum than Creationism, also proclaims not only that all ideas have equal
value, but that no worldview or culture has any better inkling what is going on
than any other. That there is no such thing as good or bad, right or wrong... only
an amorphous sea of relativity, with every concept mutually exchangeable. The
only thing valid is individual esthetics. A repackaging, in other words, of the
same old prescription — a retreat to the inner world.

al out it) which wd ourlselves nurture or allow? In fact, awareness 1

this problem has bejen around for a long time. Socrates, Plato,

Je sus, Buddha and'codntldyy Ollier-mystics, in countless cultures, I should pause for a moment to explain something that may have perplexed you. Yes, I
he /e preached the same message — that we all exist amid a blurdid lump faith and reason together, a little while ago. There is a hoary notion that the two
of uncertainty in art imperfect world. That one can never knowmental systems are essential foes, forever in opposition, but this is not so. Any thoughtful
complete truth about physical reality via our senses alone. Much isscientist will tell you that reason is just another type of faith. You scribble down a scenario
made of the differences between their systems... Socrates tea- on paper - as Plato, Aquinas, Hegel, Marx and Freud all did - and convince yourself, after a
ching reason, Buddha urging meditation, and Jesus prescribing^ of „ifs“ and „therefores,“ that something must be so.
faith. But what they all had in common was far more important.

After all, can't you prove things on paper...in mathematics?

But all theories aren't equal! Human thought thrives on competition
among ideas. Some are disproved and go deservedly to the dustbin. Meanwhile,
others graduate to become models of the world. Anyone can come up with a
metaphor or notion, but a model of the world offers consistent explanations for
what people see going on around them.

More important, a valid model goes on to make testable predictions.

Each of those sage-prophets worried that the power of human
egotism tends to make each us lie to ourselves, leading to error,
hypocrisy, and alltoo often the rationalizing of evil actions.

Most first rate scientific papers end with a statement saying, in effect: „lf
this wonderful theory of mine is true, so-and-so will be discovered in this and
such experiment. On the other hand, my theory will be disproved if trials X
or Y show contrary results."

Moreover, each of these great savants offered a variant on
the same cure.

„Give up," they preached. ..Don't bother trying to figure out
how the flawed world works. Perfect knowledge is to be found
only within the mind, the soul. Seek your own private salvation
then, apart from the world, and don't bother getting your hands
dirty trying to piece together the nuts and bolts of God's handi¬
work."

In fact, mathematicians are considered the idiots-savant
of the scientific family - because they actually believe in logical
„proofs.“ Mathematics is certainly the most brilliant, accurate, and
useful metaphor-generating system ever conceived. It contains
systems to check for self-consistency, so that most flaws are wee¬
ded out before publication. Yet, even the most elegant theorem has
to be tested against reality or remain a nebulous thing. A curiosity.
Just another pretty incantation.

That's the way it works, and not just in science. It is also
how honest men and women live their lives. If you believe
in something, then by all means try to prove it, even
convince others. But always leave room for the
possibility that someone else may prove you
wrong.

What about these so-called
..models of the world" then?

In other words, mathematicians are shamans, too.

Before Galileo, very few philosophers in any culture dared
question this near-universal, dualist mysticism, which almost
always was accompanied by top-heavy hierarchies of magicians,
shamans, priests, or art critics. Only from time to time would a
rebel dare counter:

„Hey, I may not ever be able to be certain what is absolutely
True... but I sure as heck can work to find out what isn't!
Moreover, I can improve my model of the world, by slowly, care¬
fully finding out what is truer than what I already knew."

Reason can be just another form of faith - a tower of
words or symbols which seem to demonstrate what you wanted
to prove, forgetting that in other hands the same tools can be used
to show opposite conclusions. Take the famed philosopher, Ren?
Descartes, who decided to throw out everything he knew and
start from scratch - then proceeded, step by painstaking step, to
logically „prove“ all of the premises and prejudices he had started
out with! When you have an ideology or theory that ought to be
true, it takes great strength of character to overcome the very
human desire to believe your own spell-weaving, and instead allow
others to test the edifice you've created. Testing it against the pos¬
sibility of being wrong.

The name could
be applied to any
theory which
best des-

In other words, by slowly, carefully testing the things you and
others believe, through a process of elimination you can falsify,
t rid of, a lot of wrong ideas even ones youche-
hed until the resulting

bes the universe at a given time. Call it a monarch among theories, for as we said before,
all ideas are not equal. In any month or year, in any subject area, one description is usual¬
ly the leader. Generally the one with the fewest inconsistencies and the best accumulated evi¬
dence to back it up.

In science, no model lasts forever. Leading theories are rewarded by becoming prime

targets! More experiments are aimed at testing them than any others. Even if a model sur¬
vives trial after trial, it inevitably changes in the process. Usually, these new versions are

incremental improvements rather than rejections, as
Darwn's concepts have matured during the century since
his death, while retaining their basic validity. But revolutions
are ajso known to happen. Plate tectonics did not start out
as thi Best Model in geology. It won its place after a long

There was no past ancient golden age, sag believers in the Look Forward vision. But there is a notion going around that we just might be able to build one, for tomorrow's children.

This new orientation toward the future, not the past, is especiallg clear in the scientific attitude toward knowledge. Instead of „Truth“ with a capital T, immutable and handed down

process of criticism, successful predictions and comparison unchanged through time from some ancient text of lore, todag we have the cgcle of improvement and revision I described a little while ago. The best world models are found in the latest

to evi fence.

journal articles, in the most recent textbooks on ang given subject-and even theg wont be the final word, because in five or ten gears there‘ll be better models still, as results pour in from
new experiments.

larkably successful process, by which our

underfstandind of the universe has evolved year after year, To gou, a modern reader and member of contemporarg civilization, this wag of looking at truth mag sound obvious. (Note how even the phrases, „Look Backward" and „Look Forward,"
without the traumas or heretic-burnings that used to punc- sound biased in favor of the latter, a result of prejudice built into our language.) But I cannot overstate how recentlg this point of view achieved angthing approaching widespread acceptan-
tuate advances in human knowledge. This new priesthood is ce. This shift in the time orientation of wisdom is an intellectual sea change unprecedented in the annals of human thought. Its consequences, which alreadg include science and democracg,
open to all comers, even the daughters and sons of pea- will grow more profound as the gears go bg.

sants. One peculiar side product, relatively rare in times

past, Is a strar ge commodity called „honesty" — absolutely
indispensible science which is probably the least likely
marvel ever to have emerged out of self-centered human

PART FOUR: IDEA/ THAT IAFECT

LET‘S take a side trip, while on the subject of human thought. To begin, we must backtrack to skim a little biologg.

minds.

brave
mono
to old

Richard Dawkins, in his book. The Selfish Gene, describes how our genetic heritage seems to have resulted from struggles bg nearlg invisible clusters of DNA against nature and each
las, at tirpes the process also seems staid, undrama- other. Nearlg all of evolution could be looked at as a winnowing of those genes which fail to achieve the central goal of making and spreading copies of themselves. Of course, molecules do
tic, evin despotic to those who today portray themselves as not contemplate goals. ..Wanting" is a human emotion. Still, the effects of natural selection often do look eerilg as if different genetic heritages have been striving against one another for niches
ists, and science as today's oppressive in the ecosgstem.
artv tvDes would seem to Drefer going back _

a set of genes stumbles onto the right attributes, enabling it to create an organism which, in turn, lives to make and pass on more

There was no golden age in the past, this revolutionary view declares; our ancestors
scratched and clawed, and a few of them-the well-meaning ones-tried hard to redress the
shabby ignorance they had inherited. Some, in sincerely trying to improve things, came up
with dreadful world models, pantheons or social orders which excused, even encouraged,
terrible persecutions or injustices. Still, despite all the mistakes and obstacles they faced,
men and women managed glacially, generation by generation, to add to our knowledge-and
to our wisdom, as well.

copies of the genes, then all those copies will also share the original successful
trait and have an improved chance of making copies, themselves. And so on. The
process works as well for autonomous creatures, like you and me, as for a virus
which invades a host organism and uses it to servers a tool for replication.

This is but a crude summary of insightspDdWkins depicts so well, (which led
to my story in this volume, „The Giving Plague"). Here it is only a prelude to

this for entertainment, no3 So let‘s play with these notions for a little while as I paint a rather unconventional picture of our familiar world.
Let me suggest that until recently, five major memes have battled over the future of this planet. These combatting Zeitgeists had little to

Dawkins's next step, when he discusses another type of bundle of information do with those superficial, pompous slogan mills people have gotten all lathered about during this century -- communism, capitalism, Christianity,

with similar traits. Not genes, but „memes."

Islam. They are deeper, older themes which continue to set the tone for entire civilizations even today.

Memes are raw ideas. Pure concepts which, like conquering genetic codes, Feudalism is one of the oldest. It may appear to be rare nowadays, but some philosophers and historians have called it the „most natural"
seem capable of thriving in and via host organisms, this time human minds. of human societies, simply because it cropped up in so many places throughout the millennia. Everywhere, in fact, that metallurgy and agricul¬
ture combined to let close-knit elites establish and enforce an inherited aristocracy.

What would such a Jiving idea" be like? Well, for tyie thing it would survi¬
ve by making its host think about it. In contemplating a concept, you in effect (If one tallies a list of history's few, short-lived flowerings of freedom and enterprise, it is clear that aristocracy toppled and crushed far
keep it alive. For example, some time ago I read a notion — the very one we're more of these frail renaissances than socialism ever did.)
discussing now — the notion of memes. You could say this idea was successful

at ..infecting" me, beouse I've continued thinking aboijit it
existence, or „life."

But a virus or bacterium that just sits inside its hos _

much. An effective pstudo-organism must do more. It Jnu« t reproduce.

How would a living idea proliferate?

By getting its host not only to think about but Id make and spread
copies... by telling other people! And now, if you've been paying attention, youT
realize that's just what I've be&ip doing tl “ '
meme... the meme <^>f memes! By telling yj

l wi’fh the

notion ot these i|t$ctious ideas. Mjit's a .successfu
of yd|u wifi go ou and tell others djDoutJit. Anfi s<

giving it continued Has modern life made feudalism obsolete?Maybe. But if so, why do so many in the west go all teary-eyed over inbred European royal fami¬
lies, including one that we americans kicked out with just cause, long ago?

doesn't accomplish Or take the raging popularity of fantasy novels with feudal settings. Can it be possible that the descendants of rebels - true heroes who
fought to free us all from a beastly, oppressive way of life that doomed nearly everyone to ignorance and peasantry - that those descendants
prefer to fantasize „heroic“ adventures featuring despotic kings, egocentric princes, and curmugeonly wizards? Apparently it is so.

last few minut js for one particular her powerful worldview -
labout^W^nfTdpngthpmemicequi- -tfHFleading meme - in

Clearly the pull of the feudal meme is still strong in us, tugging at our sympathies even today.

is touted as a primary virtue, wherever skill and craftsmanship are downgraded in favor of
Machismo is anot- strutting" and male-bonded loyalty groups, it's a good bet machismo sets the agenda.

_ _jplf-replicatjj'ii

If-replicatin potion,

I fe would
and adapti
ucing ideal

-reproi
ped its host become pros|
meme more effectively. Or
to keep other memes out.
What a powerful trick that!

And don't underrate it! Throughout human history, macho was an effective way of

ibfy dull it we didn't share id( as, Whjfe con
our purposes. But let's imagine some o
more attnibules. What if one of them hel-
rismatic.Vor influential — to spread the
her mem| ci«sed-Tts-h«sh , or host tribe,
o expose their chiIdrerl* only to old, familiar ideas,
'ould be!

any parts of todays punning small clans. Countless stirring, heroic epics come down to us from such tribes. (Or
v\ orld. Wherever women take the wa y many today swoon over the way Klingons are depicted, in Star Trek!) Indeed
ay stiffe d and vengeance the inevitable ferment of this malecentered zeigeist was tolerable when human numbers
were small, and hunter-warriors were central to clan life.

Different versions of machismo today dominate whole regions, even continents, con¬
veyed across generations by myths children absorb at an early age. For example, in one
middle-eastern culture, nearly every fairy tale focuses on one theme — that of revenge. In
another land, mothers are known to sit their little sons on their knees and say — ..Someday
you will deflower virgins and ravish other men's wives, but if this happens to your wife or
sister, cut her throat."

Does this sound like some bizarre science fiction scenario?

Or is it, rather, a pretty good model for what's been going on throughout
most of human history? Examples abound. Take the dogmatic exclusion rule of
most religions, which call competing idea systems ..heresy."

One of the Iranian ayatollahs once said of America — „We don't fear your
bombs, we fear your pagan ideas." Why would he say such a thing? Dawkins
theory seems to offer as good an explanation as any.

g IRJJ^IVG (COnClU/IOM: mEdlE/

Now comes the

’uly sci-fi part of this scenario. (After all. you're reading

This may sound bizarre to some of you, but it would be a mistake to dismiss it as an
aberration. As worldviews go, machismo has a long tradition-a lot longer than ours. The
biggest argument against this meme is not that any alternative is intrinsically better... only
that, if it prevails, the Earth will surely die.

Then there's paranoia, another venerable family of memes. For example, one can
understand the Russian tradition of xenophobia, given their history of suffering terrible
invasions, on average twice a century. Still, that worldview of dour suspicion and bludgeo¬
ning distrust made for a brittle, capricious superpower, worsened by a deluding, superfici¬
al dogma, communism. If paranoia had won, or even lasted much longer, the world would
probably have become a cinder sooner or later. We'll see, in the course of the next decade,
if this meme really is fading. Watch how the other culture families devour its remains, as
some parts of the empire hurry to join the West, some tumble into the Macho orbit, and still
others become Eastern with stunning rapidity.

That fourth worldview, which I call „The East," is one Zeitgeist that is demonstrably both
traditional and sane... after its fashion. During most of recorded history it was dominant on
this planet. Its theme: homogeneity, uniformity, respect for elders, and discipline. People
should subsume their sense of self in favor of family, group, nation. One can see how such
a meme would make governing large populations easier. Capital is not wasted on male
strutting, or excessively on arms. Stoical labor and compound interest have a chance to
work wonders.

to rally the masses by pointing to some outside threat and whipping up paranoia. One
sees similar efforts taking place today, in efforts to combat Otherness — dangerous eff¬
orts to pander to racism and fear. Efforts which may succeed here and there, but which
I hope and expect will be largely in vain. I expect it because the rich and powerful no Ion-
control this new myth. It has outgrown the grasp of even the ..enlightened" intellec¬
tuals who originally set it on its way.

For better or for worse, we all now appear to be along
for the ride.

To those in the audiencejwho have beerrshaking their—
heads for some time, saying — „Sheesh! What an optimist Brin is!" — I can
only answer that I am well aware of the problems, the flaws, the dismal
and depressing failures of a system which promises freedom, justice and
plenty for all. but has fallen so far short of that ideal. It has succeeded far
better than any other culture since we left the caves, but by the new stan¬
dards we have set for ourselves, it is a poor record indeed. One worthy
of much criticism.

If the East wins, you will probably have some preservation of the environment, no
pandas but some trees. Both violence and the egregious excesses of hyper-individualism
will certainly abate. Humans might even slowly, eventually, get out into space.

But when or if we ever meet aliens, we would not understand them. Because by then
the very notion of diversity, let alone the idea of finding it attractive, will have been extin¬
guished.

I wouldn't find it much fun living in a human civilization dominated by sameness. But
then, if I'd been brought up differently, I might not think „fun" such a key desideratum,
after all. (In many languages there is no word for the concept.) In any event, the Eastern
worldview is the only one with a proven track record, having operated civilizations for
millennia in a manner that, while despotic, was calm and orderly, in its way.

„Calm" is the last word you would use to describe the fifth meme, one that has
always been a lesser theme, carried by an eccentric minority in each culture... until ours.
What is the fifth meme? You've heard me call it the Dogma of Otherness, although that
only scratches the surface. It is a strange, rebellious worldview unlike any of its prede¬
cessors. One that actually encourages an appetite for newness, hunger for diversity,
eagerness for change.

Tolerance plays a major role in the legends spread by this new culture, plus a tradition

(Anyway, what if I'm simply doing my own iconoclastic bit? Optimism, in a world rife with copycat pessimists? Do
a head count. I'll bet I'm the one who's being different!)

It would be an exaggeration to suggest that this meme I call Otherness „owns" territories like Europe or America...
or even California. Where it is strongest, it must still contend ceaselessly with macho, paranoic, homogenizing, and
other traditional forces which continue battling over the minds and actions of women and men. Traditional for¬
ces which may indeed be far more ..natural" to we human animals, who are so innately egotistical and afraid.
Add to this a plague of selfrighteousness, in which both individuals and political factions seem more interested
in the sweet mantras of their slogans than in finding pragmatic solutions to modern problems, and you have a
formula for troubled times ahead.

It may be that the best time for Otherness has already passed. Clearly part of the basis for this renais¬
sance has been wealth, especially the unprecedented comfort enjoyed by the vast majority of westerners
since World War II. in which very few of us can even conceive of starving, therefore why not fight for the
rights of sea mammals? (The Japanese still remember needing them for food. Is it any wonder we disa¬
gree?)

It is good to recall that nations and tribes never preach tolerance and love of diversity when they are
afraid. Witness the civil strife now raging in so many formerly peaceful parts of the world. It may be
that Otherness rests its foundations on a brief oasis of plenty in human history, and that this new
meme will vanish from sight just as soon as the dunes sweep back in.

of humorous self-criticism. (Look at the undel
comedies. It is always the most intolerant or
ce before the final curtain. And never befod
armies, had to accept the fact that they routl
le.)

nessage contained in most situation

Another thread pervading countli
“A pTethora of writers in Hollywood and elsi
acting as if he or she was inventing rebellio|
of them was raised on myths extolling eccei
Goes to Washington, to Rebel Without a

directed by by Oliver Stone.) You can e; _

today, especially if you make your idol-smasmn^nfenaim^

Few seem to have noticed how odd this message is, as propaganda. Name one
other culture in history that ever spread hyper tolerance myths like Steven Spielberg's
movie E.T., in which a generation of children were taught — „lf you ever encounter a
weird stranger from an alien race, by all means, hide him from your own people's free¬
ly elected tribal elders!" To me this is a far more startling break with history than won¬
der drugs, or moon landings, or computers that talk, with good and bad consequences
swarming forth with every passing day. No longer is the emphasis on looking to the past,
or on conformity as a principal virtue. Youthfixation replaces reverence for age, and all
ancient idols and gods are replaced by a new figure on the alter, the Self.

What a strange, unprecedented meme! One that encourages an art form as compulsi¬
vely questioning as science fiction, and which, in turn, is spread quite effectively by scien¬
ce fiction.

ibout it, Otherness (along with its two offspring, science and democra-
lerdog.

its favor is that Otherness has become powerful in the official mora-
it debates over issues concerning the public, both sides usually wrap
is ..tolerance," ..privacy," ..choice" or ..individual right s “ And absolute^
lis suspicious of the government! ~~

context of history, is the impatient, deeply utopian notion, shared by
ons can and must be improvable?

iticism is one of the best ways to elicit change...

Or that „l might be wrong" is a statement any adult is made better by saying frequently,
aloud or in private...

Or that it might be possible — and desirable
kes of their parents, and even surpass them...

- for children to learn from the mista-

Or that a golden age is not to be nostalgically mourned in ancient tomes, but to be
earned in a better, wiser tomorrow....

Now the bonus question... do I take all of this seriously?

Are a bunch of infectious „meme" worldviews really at war over human

In olden times, in societies where the few ruled the many, aristocracies used

minds, with the prize being the future of human civilization and the planet?

Of course not. My job is to take you on entertaining rides on the backs of strange new metaphors. It's what you people pay me for, and you went along willingly on this one. I hope you found this trip through stran¬
geness to your satisfaction.

Still, I've thought of an amusing experiment you might play, using these five protagonists — the five memes — I described above. Try to picture what might happen if extraterrestrials ever did come to
Earth, and landed in a macho culture, or a feudal one, or a paranoid society, or in the East.

You get four wildly different scenarios, don't you?

Now go one step further and imagine alien contact with people brought up in the final way I've described — under the Dogma of Otherness.

Forget Hollywood pathos about mean, nasty CIA types and trigger-happy rednecks. Those guilt-tripping movies have been partly responsible for seeing to it that
(with luck) that sort of schmaltz won't happen. Rather, picture a flying saucer setting down in a parking lot in today's California. The National Guard encircles the vessel... to
protect our alien visitors from novelty seekers, reporters, talkshow hosts, talent agents, and hordes seeking to have their consciousness raised!

The jury is still out whether otherness-fetishism is any saner than older ways. (Sometimes I wonder!) Nor is there any proof it will, or should, win in
the end. Yet I know where I stand. My upbringing cannot help coming out in my writing, or in hoping that readers of my books will come away each time fee¬
ling just a bit more tolerant, more future-oriented, more critical and eager for diversity and change.

If you feel the same way, then it hardly matters whether it's a meme, or a rebel worldview, or simply a way of life. We may disagree about
the how and why and wherefor of Otherness, while agreeing on what counts...

...It is our country.

The territory of hope.

The wide open commonwealth of wonder.
THE END

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NOBODY WALKS SUPER SOAKER TALKS

On havaittu ilmio lahella synnyinseutuja, etta kaikk,i mika ei maistu Turaxille kuuluu BEAST tai sen alempiin
osiin. Nimittain BEAST on se jupakka, joka syntyi Hollanissa 6.7.1934 jalkapallo-ottelun aikna pienessa
Turaxin kylan toriaukiolla. Turaxin kannattajat suutuivat ja olivat aivan vihasina kiukkuisista kiukkuisimpiin
henkiloihin. Beast perustuu luovaan toimintaan haastelliseen ponnekkaaseen toitotukseen jollaista ei vaan
saada tehtya kovin monesti vuodessa useassa eri paikassa. *Oli Tampereella kerran nimittain very huligaani
luova henkilo, jonka mielesta ei BEAST ja sen lahipiiri (dna) ota osaa olennaiseen tarpeettomuuteen vaan
juuri siihen oikeaan BEAST.2:seen. Omistan taman sivun BEAST:lle ja kaikille sen piirissa oleville.
taman sivun tuotti/ Unabled Databosum

mml Fundamenta v the BEST manazine in the wor d is BEAST

Did you know that the company that built Levittown, N.Y., which
has come to represent the quintessential suburb, not only
mass-produced houses but entire suburbs? Levitt and Sons built
four Levittowns in New York State, Pennsylvania, New Jersey,
and Puerto Rico. However, in Levittown, P.R., you won’t find any
of the famous Cape Cod houses; construction standards don’t
allow wooden houses because of potential hurricane and termite
damage. Instead they are made of concrete.

this text by NationaIGGS (geographika) for BEAST magazine.

>please, mail me. teall me more about BEAST, what it is, where

>it goes . actually I want to

>know all about BEAST, just ALLLLL...

>peace. macarena@postmaster.co.uk

A Day In The Hood

By Jennifer Sherowski
July 6, 2001

8:30 am

Woke up with a bloody nose. Mental note: Oregon is dry as a Sahara
creek bed and consuming some sort of liquid during the day would
probably help. Day is clear and bright, and I feel lucky because it’s
been cold and wet the past couple days. You never know when a
rain day’lksneak up on you in the Northwest

Keir Dillon. Photo: Jennifer Sherowski

11:00 am

Got ready to shred along with the entire town of Government Camp
Everyone seems to be here for the same reason. Parked next to the
High Cascade digger van and its cargo of clever hessians from Utah
The van gets a new paint job every year. This year the theme is, well
see for yourself...

12:00

The snow is unusually sparse for this time of year, so High Cascade
and Windell’s camp areas are within spitting distance. It made for a
festive, circus-like atmosphere. High Cascade’s park area was chalk
full of jumps, rails, a quarterpipe, and three different sized halfpipes
As on-hill manager Tonino Copine remarked, a Ferris wheel would’ve
fit right in.

The High Cascade superpipe is cut every other night. Last night was a
cutting night, so today things were on. Campers got to ride with a
slew of pros, including Trevor Andrew and Keir Dillon, who were
filming for their Mack Dawg video parts—big air-to-fakies and general
dominance all around. Despite the unavoidably soupy landings
longtime pipe digger Scotty Wittlake made everyone look silly by
landing absolutely everything he tried off the kickers. Finnish recruit
Ami Voutillainen was also laying down the law around High
Cascade-ville.v

»nextpage

Scotty Wittlake. Photo: Jennifer Sherowski